Subaqueous early eruptive phase of the late Aptian Rajmahal volcanism, India:Evidence from volcaniclastic rocks, bentonite, black shales, and oolite

The late Aptian (118-115 Ma) continental flood basalts of the Rajmahal Volcanic Province (RVP) are part of the Kerguelen Large Igneous Province, and constitute the uppermost part of the Gondwana Super-group on the eastern Indian shield margin. The lower one-third of the Rajmahal volcanic succession contains thin layers of plant fossil-rich inter-trappean sedimentary rocks with pyroclasts, bentonite, grey and black shale/mudstone and oolite, whereas the upper two-thirds consist of sub-aerial fine-grained aphyric basalts with no inter-trappean material. At the eastern margin and the north-central sector of the RVP, the volcanics in the lower part include rhyolites and dacites overlain by enstatite-bearing basalts and enstatite-andesites. The pyroclastic rocks are largely felsic in composition, and comprise ignimbrite as well as coarse-grained tuff with lithic clasts, and tuff breccia with bombs, lapilli and ash that indicate explosive eruption of viscous rhyolitic magma. The rhyolites/dacites (>68 wt.%) are separated from the andesites (<60 wt.%) by a gap in silica content indicating their formation through upper crustal anatexis with only heat supplied by the basaltic magma. On the other hand, partially melted siltstone xenoliths in enstatite-bearing basalts suggest that the enstatite-andesites originated through mixing of the upper crust with basaltic magma, crystallizing orthopyroxene at a pressure-temperature of ~3 kb/1150 ℃. In contrast, the northwestern sector of the RVP is devoid of felsic-intermediate rocks, and the volcaniclastic rocks are predominantly mafic (basaltic) in composition. Here, the presence of fine-grained tuffs, tuff breccia containing sideromelane shards and quenched texture, welded tuff breccia, peperite, shale/mudstone and oolite substantiates a subaqueous environment. Based on these observations, we conclude that the early phase of Rajmahal volcanism occurred under predominantly subaqueous conditions. The presence of grey and black shale/mudstone in the lower one-third of the succession across the entire Rajmahal basin provides unequivocal evidence of a shallow-marine continental shelf-type environment. Alignment of the Rajmahal eruptive centers with a major N-S mid-Neoproterozoic lineament and the presence of a gravity high on the RVP suggest a tectonic control for the eruption of melts associated with the Kerguelen plume that was active in a post-Gondwana rift between India and Australia-Antarctica.